Haris
September 18, 2007, 8:16am
7
Re: The endgame: who wins, who loses?
If the Supreme Court rules that Musharraf is not eligble (at all) to stand for another term as President - based on the present constitutional stipulations, then he has still has quite a few options still at hand.
Based on what I have highlighted above from Zaffar Abbas’ article, Musharraf could continue as President all the way till March 2008, and that would be perfectly in line with the constitution. To do this he would dissolve the National Assembly one day before it’s expiration i.e. on 14 November. Then call elections after 90 days i.e 12 February 2008. Then there would have to be a Presidential Election 30 days after that i.e. on 13th March 2008, until which time Musharraf could remain President and even COAS. Retired CJ Saiduzamman Siddiqui was saying that on Geo News yesterday. Of course if the pro-Musharraf/PPP parties manage to get a 2/3 majority in the elections then there would be hard negotiations, from which it could be agreed to amend the constitution to remove any legal hiccups, and re-elect Musharraf on 13th March.
** - Another option is for the govt to put forward another Presidential candidate to get elected from these assemblies. Rock solid 100% Musharraf loyalists like Shaukat Aziz and the President’s wife have been mentioned. I think it is more likely that Shaukat Aziz will be nominated fro the Presidency, and once he took over he would extend Musharraf’s term as COAS for another few years.
If they go for the second option the need for any deal with the PPP would become void, and BB would be left isolated. As the Presidential powers would remain unchanged, and Musharraf would remain as COAS, whoever wins the elections would be a secondary matter, as any PM would have to serve under the same power structure as today. So all is far from lost even if the Supreme Court passes a totally adverse judgement against Musharraf’s re-election, which I don’t believe will be the case.**
I really hope it works this way…because i think wardi gone means musharraf gone shortly afterwards…The second option is workable and can be relied upon better :k: